A Different Life Or Maybe Not
by Alanna official
Summary: A kind of crossover between Agents of Shield and Red 2. Melinda leaves SHIELD to have her own life, but ends up joining her brother (Han Cho Bai - Red 2) doing some private contracting. What sort of life does May lead away from SHIELD, and what will this mean for Coulson? [PHILINDA]
1. Leaving

**Notes: Just a crazy idea that I had whilst watching Red 2. Melinda's brother will be introduced soon, and will be more of an OC than a Red 2 character, I've kinda just used Han Cho Bai as a basis.**

* * *

"You're leaving?" He asked, eyes wide with shock.

She nodded at him, face a blank emotionless mask.

"SHIELD isn't what it used to be Phil," she said softly, "it's not your fault. I just can't do this anymore."

"But I need you Melinda," he blurted out, desperate for her to stay.

"No you don't," she said with a sad little smile. "You've got a good team, and you've got Daisy and the inhumans."

"You're a part of that team too," he countered.

She refused to acknowledge his comment, her time away from SHIELD had shown her that the team didn't actually 'need' her. They were quite capable of functioning on their own without her input.

"I leave in two weeks," she said turning to leave. For once in her life she was deciding to choose something that she wanted, something that she'd needed to do for a long time now.

"Melinda," he called after her, he wasn't done persuading her to stay yet, but she was already out the door.

* * *

The team didn't take it too well, but it could have been worse. Most of them were just shocked, but there were a few tears, on Daisy's part anyway. Who would have thought that Melinda May, the Cavalry, would ever leave SHIELD, leave Coulson? She surprised herself even. She never thought it possible for her to leave. SHIELD had been her life, and now it wasn't. Where she would go from here she wasn't sure yet, but she'd figure it out eventually.

"So this is it?" Phil asked as he walked her out to exit the base.

She nodded at him, a barely imperceptible movement of her head as she shifted her duffle bag on her shoulder. They only sign that she was even a little bit nervous about leaving.

"Can I?" He opened his arms, asking if he could hug her.

A small smile graced her lips, a hint of sadness in her face.

"I'm only a call away," she said softly, wrapping her arms around him as he held on to her tightly.

He tried to keep his feelings in check as they pulled apart. He was not going to fall to pieces. She gave him another small smile, fiddling with her hold on her bag before turning and heading for the exit. Turning back one last time. She looked at him, eyes shining with emotions. This was it.

His heart felt like it was breaking as he watched her leave. His best friend, his right hand, getting further and further away from him. His chest constricted in a way that was almost painful. He'd lost Melinda May. She might be only a phone call away as she had said, but the fact was, that she was gone.

* * *

Her keys jingled in her hands as she unlocked the door to her apartment. It was slightly musty from not being lived in for several years. Dust had built up on surfaces, it was definitely going to need a thorough clean. Dropping her bag by the floor she got down to business, opening up the windows and curtains to allow fresh air in and set about locating all the cleaning products required.

She spent the entire day cleaning and reorganising her home, dusty surfaces turned clear and shiny, sheets and curtains washed and smelling fresh, years of disuse cleaned away. Pleased with her hard work she finally stopped to rest. It was later than she realised, the sun already setting. Taking a much needed shower, she then relaxed on her lounge and ordered dinner. She'd have to take a trip to the shops tomorrow to purchase some food and other supplies.

Apparently she now had a new neighbour, the old lady who had previously lived across from her was now replaced by a man, Alex. He'd smiled and introduced himself when he saw her open up her apartment door to the pizza delivery guy. He hadn't been totally unpleasant, quite tolerable in fact. As longs as he wasn't one of those pushy and nosy neighbours they'd probably get along just fine. Regardless, she'd run a background check on him anyway.

She checks her phone, a few texts from Maria and Nat pop up on the screen. A small smile crosses her features as she scrolls through the messages. She'll definitely have to make some time to catch up with the girls soon. It's been so long since they've seen each other, it was probably around the time when SHIELD fell apart. She shoots messages to them as they start up a group chat. Nat is in Rome at the moment, and Maria is still working for Stark. She could probably see Maria, her apartment is in Brooklyn so it's not too far from Stark's really, and it's not like she has any urgent plans anyway, she'll have to start looking for a job come to think of it.

She channel hops on the television, unable to pick something to watch. Eventually she just turns it off altogether and reads a book. There wasn't anything worth watching really, just some sappy cliche romance flicks. She takes a sip of her scotch and places it back on the coffee table. It's so quiet in her apartment as she stays curled up on her lounge, so unlike the constant bustle back at the Playground. How long has it been since she's actually had the experience of pure unbroken silence? Too long in her opinion. The soothing calm of silence washes over her and soon she finds herself lulled into sleep.

Her eyes flutter open as she awakes and she quickly takes stock of her surroundings before remembering that she is in her apartment. Her body relaxes as she remembers, she fell asleep on the lounge. She stretches out, not unlike a cat, and sees the beginnings of sunlight filtering through the tops of the curtains. Rising from the lounge she tidies it up before going to get ready for the day.

The trip to the shops is entirely uneventful. She manages to get everything she needs without the constant input of a pair of scientists about which product has higher glycemic load or whether it has a greater energy to protein ratio. There also isn't a certain young hacker trying to discreetly sneak assorted junk foods into her trolley when she thinks she isn't looking. Thankfully though, there is an obvious and pleasant lack of a bickering couple tailing her as she moves throughout the shop. As much as she may like Bobbi and tolerate Hunter, their constant arguing is something that manages to always grate on her nerves.

When she goes to the checkout she doesn't have to pull out some items that just happened to "end up" in the trolley. She also doesn't have to pull a pair of scientists away from the poor lady giving out product samples as they "inform" her of the true qualities and facts of the products. The car radio is also blessedly quiet and not hopping from one station to another as everyone fails to agree on what to listen to. She didn't realise how used to the chatter of the younger agents she had become. The silence feels almost foreign now that she really thinks about it.

"Morning," her neighbour Alex called as he passed her on his way to his car.

She smiled briefly and greeted him in response. Quickly her attention was turned to her phone though as it began vibrating in her pocket. She looked at the unknown number, quickly memorising it before answering it.

"Yes," she said, almost questioning.

"Well hello to you too," Maria replied sarcastically causing May to roll her eyes.

"Could have used your cell," she fired back.

"Argh!" Maria scoffed good naturedly, "Tony tried to upgrade the damn thing and now it looks like a transformer!" She sulked, "so I stole his."

May suppressed a laugh as she readjusted the phone placing it between her ear and shoulder as she grabbed her shopping and headed into the apartment building. Maria continued to chatter away on the phone as May listened, humming and providing small comments every now and then. She finished putting away her shopping and sat down on the lounge curling her legs up underneath her.

"So Nat's flying in sometime tomorrow," Maria continued "we should catch up. Girl's night."

May suppressed a cringe as she remembered what had happened last time all three of them had gotten together for 'Girl's Night'.

"When were you thinking," she said against her better judgement.

"Ooh I'm not sure but I'm thinking tomorrow night…"

"I don't have any plans."

"Great," Maria said enthusiastically, "Nat and I will be at your apartment at 8."

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Thank you for reading and please leave a comment. It only takes a second and it absolutely makes my day. If you have any ideas or prompts that you'd like written or just want to chat, feel free to message me on tumblr hardcore-evil-regal. I promise I don't bite.**


	2. Girls Night

**Author's Note:**

 **It's been so long since I last updated this but I've written a really long chapter so hopefully that makes up for it. Enjoy :)**

* * *

She muttered softly to herself in Mandarin as she dropped her keys on the floor. Carefully she placed her bags on the floor before bending down to pick them up.

"Would you like a hand with those," her neighbour asked gesturing to the bags on the floor beside her.

"No it's fine, I can manage," she smiled grabbing some of the bags.

"It's no trouble really," he smiled picking up the rest of the bags from the floor.

"If you insist," she replied dryly as she turned unlocking her apartment.

"You having a party?" He asked as he helped her unpack, placing the items on the kitchen island.

"Girls night," she said with a slight lack of enthusiasm, barely suppressing a shudder.

"Ah," he said as if it were explanation enough.

It certainly did look like a lot of alcohol that was piling up on her kitchen island.

"You work?" she asked as she placed some things in the cupboard overhead.

"Yeah, I'm a surgeon actually so I don't often get many days off."

She listened intently filing that small piece of information away. It could come in handy later perhaps.

"What about you?" He asked.

"I'm looking for a job at the moment," she said coolly careful not to give too much away.

He nodded accepting her answer, "Any specific field?"

"Aviation actually," she replied leaning back against the counter.

He raised his eyebrows in surprise, it wasn't everyday that you met someone who could pilot an aircraft. His phone buzzed and he looked at the message releasing a sigh.

"Sorry but I gotta go, work," he said holding up his phone with an apologetic smile, "Duty calls."

She smiled and brushed off his apologies.  
"Thanks for your help," she said as he headed for the elevator.  
"Not a problem," he smiled "I'll see you around," he called before striding off purposefully.  
She shut the door quietly before heading back to the kitchen and putting on the kettle. The girls would be over in a couple of hours and she still had a few things to do.

* * *

"Hiya stranger," Natasha smiled as Melinda opened the door. Despite herself, she ended up grinning back at her friend and hugged her briefly. It had been so long since they'd last seen each other.

"She beat me by a second!" Maria called as she came walking down the corridor from the elevator.  
"Haha Maria," Natasha replied sticking out her tongue.

"Oh real mature," Melinda said dryly but with amusement sparkling in her eyes.

Maria rolled her eyes at Natasha as she hugged Melinda.

"So what's happened?" Maria questioned as they made their way into Melinda's apartment.

"Yeah, tell us everything," Natasha added.

"I thought the rule for girl's night was that we had to take a shot if we started talking about work?" Melinda asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Pft, we'll make an exception," Maria scoffed.

"Yes. Details first, then we'll start the shots after," Natasha said with a grin.

"There's nothing to tell," Melinda stated as they all made themselves comfortable in the lounge.

"Like hell that's true," Natasha smirked.

"Ooh I bet it's about Coulson," Maria winked.

Melinda sighed, suppressing a groan. Nat had found out about Coulson being alive after all of Theta Protocol blew up, and she was surprising cool with it. After she gave Coulson a good and proper verbal beating that was. The rest of the Avengers had been pleased to hear he was alive too, if a little miffed at having been kept in the dark for so long, Stark would not shut up about it for months.

"So it is about Coulson?" Natasha reaffirmed.

"Nat, Maria? Really?" Melinda asked narrowing her eyes.

"Yes!" Both women replied. It was always such fun getting to tease one another.

"You guys always had such a weird relationship," Maria pointed out wrinkling her nose.

"Yeah, I never understood why you two never hooked up," Nat added looking genuinely thoughtful as if it was a serious conundrum that was bothering her.

"I'm gonna start the alcohol," Melinda stated, getting up from the lounge to fetch the drinks. There was no way she was going to make it through this without some alcohol in her system.

"Aww come on Mel, you two would've been a cute couple!" Natasha called after her.

"So you two keep saying," she muttered under her breath.

"But you left because of him didn't you?" Maria asked a little more seriously.

"I left because of me," Melinda answered sitting back down with three bottles of beer and passing the girls a bottle each. They were gonna start off easy first, save some of the harder stuff for later.

"I needed to do something for me," she shrugged.

Opening their beers the girls seemed to sober up for a minute.

"I bought nail polish," Nat announced randomly going over to grab her bag. She produced several bottles of nail varnish all in different colours.

"Ok, pick," she told the other women. "We're doing our nails tonight."

* * *

"This movie is ridiculous!" Maria called as the end credits of Titanic rolled over the screen. "There was clearly room for two on that door! Rose you bitch! How could you let Leo die?! Every time!" She exclaimed frustrated as Natasha and Melinda smirked at her.

"Shut up," she said to the both of them regardless of the fact that they hadn't said a word. She always reacted the same every time after watching Titanic. "Just wait til we watch Brother Bear, Nat," she smirked evilly. Melinda smiled, the movie always managed to make the infamous Black Widow cry every time without fail. It was hilarious. She'd missed the entertaining teasing that came so naturally between the three of them.

"I think my nails are dry," she pointed out trying to distract Maria from the movies.

"Hmmm yeah," Maria chimed in drinking some of her beer.

"You guys wanna order some food?" Nat asked flopping back on the lounge.

"Yeah, you order," Melinda replied chucking her phone to her friend.

"Fine," Nat sighed picking up the phone. The phone buzzed in her hands lighting up the screen with a text message. "Ooh! Message," Natasha cried out, face lighting up with mischief.

"Pass it here," Melinda said holding out her hand, not all that keen on the idea of her best friends reading her text messages. Those two could be so immature sometimes. Alcohol just made them even worse.

"Who is it?!" Maria asked slyly, eyeing Melinda.

"Guess!" Nat said playfully, pulling the phone out of Melinda's reach as she tried to reclaim it.

"Hmm… Phil?" Maria asked thoughtfully.

"Nope, guess again," Nat answered.

"Uhh… Andrew?" She tried a different guy giving Melinda a curious look.

Melinda rolled her eyes and let out an exasperated sigh.

"Really?" She asked, "you two think that the only person who's going to text me is a guy."

"Well we're both here so.." Maria trailed off looking at her meaningfully.

Melinda huffed at her getting up to fetch some more alcohol just to escape them for a bit.

"Just tell me," she heard Maria whine to Natasha.

"It says 'hey'," Natasha smirked.

Those two must have drunk more than she'd realised Melinda thought. They were behaving like twelve year olds.

"But from who?!" Maria whined almost jumping on the lounge.

"It says… uh unknown number," Natasha looked at it quizzically.

Melinda suppressed a laugh at both her friends' expressions, one thoroughly confused and the other looking rather put out.

"Ha," she smirked at them placing the bottle of scotch on the coffee table along with some glasses. "Serves you two right."

"You're no fun sometimes Mel," Natasha pouted as Maria nodded along in agreement.

"Yeah, what happened to the wild child that used to pull off some of the greatest pranks in history?" Maria asked teasingly.

"First of all, I grew up," Melinda stated as they both mouthed 'boring' at her, "and second. I was never a wild child," she said mock offended.

Both women burst into laughter.

"Ha, you were the wildest of us all!" Maria cried through her laughter.

"Yeah, and that's including the whole gang," Natasha added.

"Right," Melinda dead panned. She was very amused by the whole situation, both her friends obviously knew that or they wouldn't continue teasing her, but even now she still had a little difficulty openly showing how she was feeling.

"Yeah, remember that incident with Sitwell and the hair removal cream?" Natasha asked with an evil grin. "It took months for his eyebrow to grow back, and whenever he raised the other one it used to look so funny because it was this one furry little caterpillar doing the wiggle on his face."

"Those poor junior agents!" Maria exclaimed as she laughed at the memory. "They used to have such a hard time trying not to laugh at him when he gave them orders."

Melinda smirked to herself. That was a pretty great prank and it wasn't her fault Sitwell fell asleep in the controls room and she happened to have a box of hair removal cream with her. It was pure luck, honest.

"Oh, and remember that time we decorated all of Rumlow's gear and made it into the best hello kitty dress up set?" Maria asked grinning widely at the memory.

"Pink was always a good colour on him," Melinda pointed out, eyes twinkling as she recalled the sight of Rumlow dressed in a pink bedazzled tactical suit. It was a spectacular image actually, he glittered with jewels no matter which way the light hit him. Putting the jewels and sparkling diamontes on and dying the gear pink had actually been a little difficult and not to mention a time consuming task. With the three of them however, it had been much more enjoyable and far more efficient, and the vision that was Rumlow exiting from the locker room was well worth all that work.

"Yeah didn't he get booted off the mission for that because he 'wasn't dressed appropriately'?" Nat laughed.

Natasha had actually been called to take his place on the team for that, which was extremely ironic and just made the prank seem even funnier. Rumlow was an arse.

"Well stealing his clothes really gave him no other choice than to wear our alternative," Maria chuckled.

"I'll never get over the time that we managed to get Phil with the whoopee cushion every time," May grinned. That had been one of their favourite pranks, and also one of their longest running ones. Every time Phil had entered a room and taken a seat, one of the girls had somehow managed to catch him with a whoopee cushion. It was extremely immature and old school, but it was also highly effective and not to mention hilarious. Phil, after three months of endless laughs at his expense, was not impressed.

"Well he, Clint and Garrett started it," Natasha said.

It had infact been the boys that had started that prank war.

"I swear Fury was going to kill us when he walked into the clingwrap over the door frame," Maria said with wide eyes just remembering Fury's reaction. He'd yelled at all six of them, Coulson, Barton, Garrett and of course Maria, Nat and Melinda. He'd told them that they were lucky that they were his best agents or otherwise he would've shipped their sorry asses off to some remote base, separating them all and have them pull the night shift for the rest of their had effectively put an end to their prank war, but it didn't stop them from pranking. Melinda and Clint after all, had a very big reputation as the best prank artists SHIELD had ever had the misfortune to employ.

"We used to have such fun, all of us together," Nat reminisced.

"And we also used to get into so much trouble," May pointed out. How often they had had to suffer the consequences of their pranks and deal with inventory, was a number too high to remember.

The doorbell rang interrupting their conversation.

Melinda rose from her seat to answer the door, it was probably food. She was a little surprised and confused when the guy handed her a bag from DJ's.

"How did you get burgers delivered?!" She called to Nat still standing in the open door.

"I know a guy," was all her friend replied with a sly look, causing her to roll her eyes. Typical Natasha.

"Hurry up and bring the food!" Maria called as Melinda kicked the door shut. "Time for Brother Bear she announced," smirking evilly at Nat.

* * *

"Aww… You need a Kleenex Black Widow?" Maria teased Natasha as the redhead wiped the tears off her cheeks with the back of her hand.

"I hate you," she deadpanned glaring daggers at her friend.

"There there," Melinda said patting her head. She couldn't help herself and laughed at her friend's expression. "I'm sorry Nat," she laughed.

"I hate you all," her friend said turning her face into Melinda's stomach where she was lying with her head in Melinda's lap.

"Aww Nattie," Melinda teased running her fingers through Natasha's hair.

"Nope," Natasha replied, shaking her head with her eyes firmly shut. "Not talking to you guys."

"But you just did," Maria pointed out with a smirk, lying down on the lounge with her head hanging down off the edge.

"Still not talking to you guys," Natasha sulked pressing her face further into Melinda's stomach.

"But you-"

"Shut up Maria," Melinda cut her off rolling her eyes.

"Hey!" Maria cried jerking her head up and almost knocking herself out on the coffee table.

Melinda snorted trying to cover up her laughter, so much for being a super skilled agent. Apparently it doesn't apply when you're drunk.

"What'd she do?!" Natasha asked perking up suddenly turning her head to see Maria scowling at the coffee table.

"Agent Hill over there almost knocked herself out on the coffee table," Melinda grinned laughing just a little.

"Ha!" Natasha laughed sitting up, "you were defeated by a coffee table!"

"Was not!" Maria cried back indignant.

"Yeah?" Natasha smirked at her, "I bet I could jump over it long ways without a run up."

"I dare you," Maria squinted her eyes at her a fraction as she stared Natasha down.

Melinda watched on amusedly, waiting to see how it would all unfold. Things were starting to become interesting.

"Watch me," Natasha stood up adjusting her top.

She stepped towards the coffee table, mouth set in a firm line. Suddenly she jumped up into the air landing gracefully on the other side of the table. Turning to look at Maria she gave her a look of challenge.

"Fine," Maria said standing up only a little unsteadily and taking her place at the end of the table. She then jumped over it too and they both turned to look at Melinda.

"What?" she asked taking a sip of her drink.

"Your turn," Nat said tugging her up from her seat.

"Ok, ok," she cried to stop Nat from dragging her across the rug. "Let me show you how it's done," she smirked before vaulting over the table with ease.

"Next challenge!" Maria smirked looking for the next thing they could possibly do.

"How about…" Nat called as she rifled through Melinda's kitchen. "Chubby bunny!" She declared holding up a couple of packs of marshmallows. To which Maria clapped and Melinda smiled.

"I gotta warn you," Maria said eyeing the marshmallows, "I'm real good at this."

* * *

"Chubby bunny," Maria said proudly as she stuffed the ninth marshmallow into her mouth, looking at the others.

"Chubby bunny," Melinda said back staring her down as she placed another marshmallow in her own mouth trying not to gag as a marshmallow hit the back of her throat..

"Chubby bunny," Natasha said with a grin as she added another marshmallow.

The game was extremely intense and competitive, neither of them willing to give up yet. Finally when they got to the twelfth marshmallow Melinda bailed. She spat her marshmallows out into the rubbish with a slight look of disgust.

"Remind me why people play this game again?" She asked looking at the marshmallows sadly. "It's disgusting and a waste of marshmallows."

"Erh himph ff of fun!" Maria cried struggling to speak around the marshmallows in her mouth.

"Chuppy bu-ph" A marshmallow flew from Natasha's mouth as she tried to say 'chubby bunny', hitting Maria square in the forehead. Her eyes widened as she realised what had happened and Maria looked stunned as the marshmallow fell from her forehead leaving a moist patch behind. The moment was broken though by Melinda laughing at them before tripping over the rug and falling into the lounge. Her friends watched as she continued to laugh, face down in the lounge, shoulders shaking. It had been so long since they had heard their friend laugh so freely and without care, they'd missed hearing the sound of if. Finally she sat up to look at them, hair a little wild about her face but her cheeks had a lovely pink flush to them, which could have been either the alcohol or the laughter, maybe both. What made them both smile and laugh though was the joyful little sparkle in her eye and the contagious sound of her laugh which they couldn't resist joining in with. It was too rare an occurrence that Melinda ever fully let go of her tight control, seeing this was like finding a diamond in the rough. Maria grinned around her mouthful of marshmallows as Natasha laughed beside her before choking on a marshmallow and having to spit her mouthful into a bowl, the marshmallows now a goopy mess. Melinda laughed harder, the sound of her unrestrained laughter filling the room. Maybe girls night was just what she needed.

* * *

 **A/N**

 **If you made it to here, congratulations! That was a really long chapter for me and also a really hard one to you for reading and please leave a comment. It only takes a second and it absolutely makes my day. If you have any ideas or prompts that you'd like written or just want to chat, feel free to message me on tumblr (hardcore-evil-regal). I promise I don't bite.**


	3. Hungover and New Beginnings

**Author's Note**

Well this is mostly just setting up for the rest of the action to come. Stuff is starting to heat up!

* * *

She awakes to sunlight streaming in her face through the open curtains. Scrunching up her nose she stifles a groan as her head pounds and a sick feeling rolls about in her stomach. Turning over onto her side she is met with a facefull of red hair.

"Ugh! Tasha," she groans shoving the redhead off her pillow and onto the one beside her.

"Noo," Natasha whines before snuggling deeper into the pillow, only her red hair visible above the blanket.

Letting out a deep breath Melinda extracts herself from the bed and stumbles over to the bathroom. She almost forgot how bad hangovers were. Turning on the shower, she brushes her teeth quickly as she waits for the water to heat up. The hot water feels amazing and makes her feel slightly better. After spending maybe a little longer than she usually would in the shower, she emerges to face the day. Towel wrapped around her, she rifles through her wardrobe pulling out a top and some jeans as Natasha continues to sleep away in her bed. Rolling her eyes at her friend she gets dressed before running a brush briefly through her damp hair and heading out to the kitchen. As she heads for the kitchen she finds Maria snoring on the couch, hair covering part of her face. It's only because of her extensive training that she doesn't jump when a cat appears out of nowhere. It meows at her as she looks it over, it has random patches of colour on its white fur and a marshmallow or two sticking to its back. Grinning wickedly to herself, she picks up the cat before dropping it on Maria's stomach.

"Ahh!" Maria awakes with a start before looking down at the cat confusedly. "Did you do that?" She asked her friend gesturing to the rainbow patches and marshmallows stuck to the cat.

"No, you did," Melinda smirked before heading over to the kitchen.

Pulling out ingredients, she started chopping them up and throwing them in a blender. Maria dragged herself over to the counter and perched on a stool as she watched her friend chop celery at an alarming speed.

"Ugh! It's too early for this," Natasha emerged from Melinda's room rubbing her eyes and looking just a tad grumpy at Melinda who had turned on the blender moments before.

Her friend shrugged her shoulders unapologetically before starting up the blender again. Maria handed Natasha a glass of water and a couple of aspirin as she plonked onto the stool beside her.

"Remind me never to drink that much again!" Maria groaned as she and Nat sat with their heads in their hands.

"Like you're going to listen," Melinda smirked as she poured the smoothie into glasses and handed them one each. "Drink up," she ordered as they eyed it warily.

Making a big show, Natasha gulped down half her glass pulling a disgusted face. Maria followed suit but took a tentative sip before swallowing several mouthfuls.

* * *

The girls had finally gone home after they'd recovered enough from their hangovers. The day had consisted mainly of them swearing never to drink again and just lazing about after they'd cleaned up the mess they'd made the previous night. Sitting down on the lounge, Melinda opened up her laptop and scrolled down the screen. A notepad and pen rested beside her as she sorted through the job positions being offered. She picked up her pen absentmindedly twirling it between her fingers as she looked for something that appealed to her. Her fingers paused for a moment as she looked at the job description. Jotting down a few things on her notepad, she then continued scrolling. This process continues not just through the night but over the course of the following nights through the week until she had collected an assortment of available positions, all to do with aviation. Throughout the next week she did up her resume and filled out the application forms. The world seems to run on paperwork she had grumbled to herself as she filled out form after form. She swore she never wanted to fill out another piece of paperwork again afterwards.

Two weeks later however, she finds herself in the recruitment office of one of the airlines, sitting down for a job interview. It happens at an almost whirlwind pace as she flies from application to interview. Her life is starting to begin taking its new form as she establishes a world that doesn't seem to revolve around SHIELD. Sometimes she can't believe that this is actually happening, she wakes up in the morning and is still astounded sometimes that she doesn't have some sort of important life or death mission relying on her to save the day. Her job interview in comparison is a relative walk in the park, considering she's dealt with far more intense and intimidating situations and most of her employment history is falsified. She can't really put specialist combatant on her resume, it would surely raise a few eyebrows and create some awkward questions to put it lightly. The questions are simple enough to answer though without giving much away, and she receives a phone call a week later informing her of her new job position. It brings a smile to her face, and she realises, that for the first time in her life she has a job away from SHIELD. The next week she had to fill out more paperwork for her new job, but these forms weren't nearly half as bad as the first lot she had to suffer through.

* * *

Her first day on the job is more nerve wracking than she thought it would be. She's a trained specialist, she doesn't get nervous, but starting a new job has her feeling just a little out of her comfort zone. The reality suddenly hits her as she realises that this is her first time starting a new job with normal civilians and reasonable expectations, not a job asking her to put her life on the line constantly. A regular person may have had a new job maybe five times in the span of her SHIELD career, maybe more. SHIELD has been such a large part of her life it's almost hard to believe that she actually did walk away from it. Not wanting to dwell on the past however, she focuses on the now and her current "nerves" at the prospect of her first day on the job. She needn't worry though as the crew are nice enough and the staff are friendly as they welcome her into their collective. She smiles and shakes hands, makes small talk with strangers.

It's funny, she thinks to herself as she settles into her new job, only a number of weeks ago she was out in the field, kicking ass and saving the day. Now she's here, flying a plane and a hundred or so other people back to New York. Surprisingly, even to herself, she'd settle into her new job quickly and easily. It really wasn't all that different to her time just flying the BUS, except she doesn't have to worry about enemy jets shooting them out of the sky into little itty bitty pieces. It's an easy enough flight, stress free and straightforward. It feels weird introducing herself as the pilot before take off, she's so used to just pressing on the intercom and telling agents to "lock it or lose it, wheels up in two." The uniform's new too, white, with embellishments and a formal cap. It is so unlike her usual dark uniform it's almost too bright. It looks smart though, she must admit. She loves the flying though. It's what she lives for you could say. It doesn't matter what the destination is she just loves being able to fly. Even though she has to have a copilot with her and there isn't really any solitude in the cockpit, she still enjoys it. Even if she doesn't have SHIELD, she can still fly.

The constant travelling isn't new as she spends a night or two here or there in different countries, she's so used to being able to pack her life into a bag that a couple of nights in another country is not unusual to her. Eventually she gains a new rhythm with her life. Away, home, away, home. She likes the irregular hours, doesn't think she would have been able to cope with a regular nine to five job everyday. She would probably go insane after the first week or so, but then again, she did survive administration on level three so anything is possible she supposes. It almost feels normal as she gets used to it with time. But sometimes she feels a small part of herself calling for that thrill, that rush of adrenaline pumping through her veins that can only come from doing a mission. She's been out of the game for months now and she's surprised that she isn't as antsy and itching to be in the field as she thought she might've been. One thing that she has noticed after leaving SHIELD is the considerably less amount of stress which she now lives under. Her life is peaceful and calm, nothing like the hectic frenzy that was her life before, any quiet moment broken by the alarm of a new threat or mission. She has time to think and relax now, something that was extremely novel in its first few weeks she almost forgot exactly how to relax. The girls had been a great help though. They showed her how to let go again, how to just forget sometimes when she needs to. There's also a great gym facility in her apartment building that has a very handy punching bag. Though she might not be an agent anymore, she still finds it worthwhile keeping herself in shape and her skills up to scratch. That punchbag is probably the object that suffers most during her restless nights, nights where she is plagued by nightmares. She vents all her fears and frustrations out on that punchbag and more often than not she walks away feeling better, her soul considerably lighter.

She's taken up running again now that she doesn't live on a super secret base. Using a treadmill just doesn't compare to actually running. It's a great opportunity for her to reacquaint herself with the area and also helps her to think. It's now become one of her favourite hobbies and is one of the things she looks forward to doing when she is not flying. Her blood is pumping faster and she can hear it rushing through her ears as she sprints the final hundred or so meters to her apartment block. Her lungs have that now familiar burn that comes from running hard. Sweat is running down the side of her face as she slowly jogs up the steps to her apartment foregoing the elevator. She briefly greets her neighbour who is entering the elevator and evades the old lady who tries to set her up with her son every time she encounters her. She has a couple of days off work and she plans to spend it relaxing, preferably not with some old lady's son who is apparently a "real catch" according to his mother.

It's a quiet night as she lies back on the lounge, stretched out as she reads a book. Her apartment building is one with blessedly quiet neighbours for which she is eternally grateful. Adele is playing softly in the background as she reads, the melodious voice of the singer filling the room. A sharp rap sounds on the door breaking through the peaceful bubble that had descended over her and has her placing her book down on the coffee table. Rising up from her comfortable position on the lounge she heads over to the door. Peering through the peephole she then hurries to open the door as she sees who is on the other side of it. The man on the other side slumps against the doorframe as he struggles to hold himself upright. Blood is spattered across his white shirt staining it red. The door is thrown open as his hands grasp at his hip with his fingers trying desperately to stem the flow of blood from the wound. A blood soaked cloth hangs limply from beneath his hand, having little effect now on stopping the blood. She looks at him for a moment, almost too stunned to react as she takes him in assessing the situation. He looks up at her with pale skin covered in a sheen of sweat glistening in the light spilling from her apartment.

"Hey sis," he says with a grimace.

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Updates should hopefully be more regular now. I'm planning for once a fortnight with around 2000 words a chapter. Please leave a review and let me know what you think, I'm dying to hear from you guys. I know I said philinda and it will come into things soon, but I just need to establish a few things first. So share your thoughts and ideas with me, any theories that you may have. I love hearing from you guys and your reviews help to inspire me to write. Reviews are like Melinda May smiles, hard to find but the best damn things on the planet. So please leave me a review, give me a Melinda May smile :)**


	4. Family

**Author's Note:** **So another chapter and more on May's brother! All chapters now should be about 2000 words and there should be updates every fortnight.**

* * *

Snapped into action by his voice she helps him into her apartment where she settles him lying down on the kitchen island.

"Take off your shirt," she orders as she goes to the bathroom to fetch her medical kit.

By the time she returns his shirt is off and he's lying perfectly still on the dark granite countertop of her kitchen.

"Looks like it when straight through," she says as she examines the wound more closely, a bullet hole with blood oozing from it.

"Can you stitch it?" He asks through gritted teeth as she sterilises it, pain lancing through his side.

"We'll see," she mutters under her breath as she grabs the needle and thread.

He holds still as he sews the wound shut. His jaw is tight with pain and she can hear him grinding his teeth together through it as he fights to stay still for her. Afterwards she deals with his other wounds, a slash across his forearm and another on his chest. There also appears to be several large bruises forming across his torso and another on his cheek. Returning to the bathroom she picks up a washcloth and gently wipes down his arms and torso, by the time she has finished and tidied up the medical kit and returned everything to the bathroom he's passed out on top of her kitchen counter likely due to a combination of exhaustion and pain. Sighing to herself and shaking her head, she grabs a spare pillow placing it under his head and throwing a light blanket over him. Leaving on a lamp in case he wakes, she heads to her room ready to turn in for the night.

* * *

He can hear the sound of a shower running as he surfaces to consciousness. The bed doesn't feel very comfortable and his side is hurting. Wincing, he rises into a sitting position with his arms braced either side of him as his head spins making him dizzy for a moment. Trying to control his breathing to help with the pain, he breathes in deeply, holding his breath for a few moments before releasing it slowly. Taking in his surroundings he realises that he isn't on a bed at all. It's a granite countertop and he can now see clearly that he's in a kitchen. The apartment is familiar and suddenly understanding dawns on him as last night's memories come flooding back to him.

"How are you feeling," his sister asked appearing from a doorway, hair damp from her shower.

"Like shit," he said with a grimace to which she nodded in understanding.

"So you gonna tell me what happened?" She asked nonchalantly pouring him a glass of water.

Accepting the glass and taking a couple of careful sips, he took a moment before answering her question.

"I was getting intel for a client, there were a few more guards on duty than I expected and one of them got lucky."

She looked at him with a raised eyebrow and he let out a sigh.

"You were careless," she said taking a sip of her own water.

They remain in silence for a few moments before he decides to speak up.

"Have you seen mum recently?" She pulled a look at him and he let out a laugh. "Yeah, me too." She allowed him a small smile as they bond over their common tension with their mother. Neither of them choosing to join the CIA had always been a regular source of conflict between them and their mother. She chose SHIELD, he chose to work privately.

"You still working for the highest bidder?" she asked placing her glass down on the counter behind her as she leant against it.

Rolling his eyes at her question he gave her a mock glare. Some of his clients in the past had been a little unsavoury and he knew she didn't approve of all his career decisions sometimes.

"I choose who I work for and which jobs I want to take on."

"Right," she smirked at him.

On one too many occasions, she'd had to save his ass because of his not so well thought out career decisions.

"So when's the meet?" She asked him.

He looked at her carefully for a moment, how did she know?

"The USB in your pocket," she offered him reading his thoughts. "I gathered that's what your client wants."

Nodding his head in confirmation he then looked at her sharply.

"You searched me?!" He said somewhat accusingly.

Smirking at him she rolled her eyes.

"My little brother shows up on my doorstep with a bullet wound through his side and bleeds all over my kitchen countertop. I think I have the right to search his pockets to find out what the hell happened."

He lets out a huff and appears to be in a bit of a sulk, well, as much of a sulk as a guy in his late thirties can be.

"So when's the meet?" She asked again as he looked at her grumpily. "Hayden," she says his name warningly. She used to do that when they were kids too and he was about to do something he shouldn't.

"Tomorrow," he finally admitted with a scowl on his face.

"I don't think you should go," she stated in a voice that said her statement was really more of an order.

"I have to," he argued as he attempted to swing his legs over the side of the counter on to the ground. Pain shot through his side and he would have doubled over if it didn't hurt to move.

"You're in a lot of pain," she reasoned. "If things go bad, you won't make it out."

"I'll be fine," he grunted, shuffling towards the edge of the counter.

"No," she stepped forward placing a hand on his shoulder to still him. "I'm not letting you go."

"The deal is I get them the intel and they-"

"I didn't say they wouldn't get the intel," she interrupted as he looked at her with a frown.

"But if I don't go-"

"I'll go," she stated with her mouth set in a determined line. "Tell me when and where and I'll do the meet for you."

Looking over her face with searching eyes he let out a breath before giving her the details. He felt a small twinge of guilt inside for dumping all his crap down on his sister. He hadn't seen her in ages and then when he finally does she has to go and tidy up his mess for him. Disappointment and frustration at himself fill him up and he's kicking himself for being such a careless idiot. She's looking at him and he knows she's reading his mind right now. She used to do it all the time when they were kids and sometimes it was really cool and handy, but most of the time it was a little intimidating and annoying because she often knew things before he even did.

"You're doing it again," he said calling her out on it.

Shrugging at him coolly with a smirk tugging at her lips she couldn't deny what she had been doing.

"Old habits die hard," she offered with only a slightly apologetic smile.

"Sorry for showing up like I did," he apologised after a moment. "I would have called ahead but…"

She snorted at his apology but he could tell that she'd already forgiven him. Rummaging through the cupboard she pulled out a couple of crackers and handed them to him.

"Eat," she instructed at his unimpressed look. "I'm not giving you a full meal so you can throw it up later."

Grumbling about poor hospitality and a half star review, he munched on the cracker as she went about the kitchen throwing assorted fruits and vegetables into a blender.

"Didn't even get a bed," he grumbled into his cracker sulking a bit like a small child.

"I let you bleed all over my kitchen counter. I'm not letting you bleed all over my lounge too," she responded throwing him a look.

"You still drink those awful things you call smoothies?" he asked with a disgusted look, wrinkling his nose up at her drink.

"They're not awful, and they're good for you," she answered taking a sip and rolling her eyes at his look of repulsion. "You're going to have to grow up at some point."

Scoffing at her he shook his head.

"Men," she muttered under her breath.

He was a man in his thirties and sometimes he still acted like a child. Exhibit A, right now. Sometimes it was annoying, other times it was rather amusing. Right now he was providing a new source of entertainment for her, it had been so long since she'd last seen him and she'd missed her little brother believe it or not.

"How did you know I was home?" She questioned as he finished his cracker.

"Dad," he replied to which she nodded her head.

Should have known she told herself. Their father had been the first and the only one in their family that she'd contacted after leaving SHIELD. He'd questioned her about her decision as any parent would, but otherwise he had accepted it. She'd still yet to tell her mother but she was trying to hold off for as long as possible. The 'I told you so' that would surely come from her mother was something that she was not eager to hear. Ironically however, her brother Hayden was the one member of the family that she couldn't get a hold of, her mother she was simply 'holding off'.

"You gonna tell me why you left SHIELD?" he asked with a curious look on his face.

Breathing deeply she stared at him for a moment with an impassive expression.

"I needed to do something for me," she says with a shrug.

He looks at her, head tilted to the side in a way that she knows he is trying to read more into her words.

"Don't worry about me," she smirked gesturing towards his wound. "You've got enough to deal with."

"Yeah, but you're my sister, of course I'm going to worry about you," he said seriously looking at her with concern written in his eyes.

She offered him a small smile, touched by his concern for her. When they were kids they'd always been close, but since they grew up and chose different if slightly conflicting careers, they'd lost that closeness that they'd had before. Only now, when he was suddenly back in her world did she realise how much she had actually missed this adorable idiot of hers. Some siblings may fight and hate each other like cats and dogs, but she and Hayden weren't like that. Sure they'd had the occasional fight like any regular brother and sister, but they'd had a special sort of relationship. Even as adults now, with both of them having had careers in unreliable and dangerous fields where you sometimes didn't know who to trust, they both knew that no matter what they could always rely on each other. She can remember a time or two when he'd provided her with some very important intel that had saved an agent's life. Nobody however knew that they were related. Using an alias her brother worked from the shadows in the grey area of arguments. It would be more than frowned upon if it was discovered that the son of the CIA's Director took on political hits, not to mention the danger that it would put the rest of his family under. Making sure that his family remained safe was always his priority. Something that he and his sister shared it seemed. Now that she's not working for SHIELD anymore though, maybe they can spend a little more time together. If they can get their schedules to work and he can make sure that he doesn't get killed out in the field, then it would be a great idea.

* * *

 **A/N**

 **So this will set the ball rolling a bit and hopefully open up a bag full of fun for me to play with. This going to be amazing and I am so excited to write this so hang in there, Philinda chapters will be coming eventually. Please leave a comment and let me know what you thought and if you have any ideas that you'd like to share. I love hearing from you guys so please comment. Comments are like ice creams on a hot summer's day, so please leave me a comment, make my summer day awesome :)**


	5. The Meet and a phonecall

Staring at the TV screen with a bored expression, he hops from channel to channel. Sprawled out on the lounge he flops an arm over his head as he sinks down, careful of his injury. He perks up a little as he hears the sound of footsteps, and pokes his head up over the top of the lounge. Letting out a whistle he raises his eyebrows at his sister.

"You look nice," he says dragging a hand through his hair.

"Thanks," she replies with a smirk as she tugs on her leather jacket.

Her ponytail swishes gently from side to side as she swipes her keys and the USB with the intel from the kitchen counter.

"Try not to do anything stupid while I'm gone," she tells him as she opens the door, pausing for a moment to look back at him meaningfully. "I shouldn't be too long, an hour or two max."

He nods at her from the lounge making shooing gestures with his hands.

"Go!" He urges her just stopping short of physically pushing her out of the apartment himself. "I'm a grown man, I can take care of myself."

"Clearly," she states dryly giving him a pointed look before stepping out and shutting the door with a quiet click behind her.

* * *

It's a simple meet, straightforward and uncomplicated. Twelve o'clock on the dot at the designated location the client shows shadowed by two bodyguards. She's sitting in the outdoor dining area of a cafe with a copy of _"1984"_ resting on the edge of the table with its cover down. He takes a seat behind hers as she sips from her cup of tea.

"Where's Bai?" He asks in reference to her brother making her smile internally as he mentions his alias _Han Cho Bai._ They sit facing away from each other so he can't see the slight upturn of her lips as she finds amusement in her brother's choice of alias. He always had a flare for choosing names.

"He is otherwise engaged at the moment," she replies placing her cup back on the table. "I have what you want."

She can hear him shuffling in his chair as she takes something from within his jacket. Flipping open a mirror, she acts out retouching her lipstick whilst she watches him carefully in the reflection. He holds up his phone as if he is texting but is actually showing her as he transfers the payment into her brother's account. She flips the mirror shut as he finishes transferring the money.

"You should use a napkin," she tells him as she rises from her seat grabbing the book. "The tables can be a little sticky."

As she walks away and towards the car park as he reaches out to pull a napkin from the dispenser. A solid weight falls into his palm as he pulls the napkin free, the black of the USB so stark against the white of the napkin. Looking out to where the woman had left just moments ago, he watches as she struts away, dark aviators over her eyes, dark jeans tucked into her ankle boots as they click against the pavement, her hair glowing amber in the sunlight.

* * *

She blinks her eyes a few times as she enters the room trying to make sense of the scene before her. Soft snores are coming from the couch as her brother lies sprawled out on his back. What's puzzling her the most however is why there is a white cat curled up on the top of his chest also asleep. She has a slight suspicion that it may be the same cat that fell victim to Maria during their girl's night, but she has no idea how her brother managed to detain the poor creature. It's not even her cat, there's probably some poor little old lady in the building wondering what's happened to her cat. Letting out a sigh as she approaches she throws her jacket over one of the chairs before moving towards the lounge staring down at her brother.

"Hey," she says softly touching his shoulder gently.

His eyelids flutter as he wakes and he squints up at her still adjusting to the brightness of the room.

"Hey," he says groggily moving to sit up before noticing the cat on his chest. "Huh," he grunts looking at it a little mystified. "Didn't know you had a cat," he says with a slightly confused note to his voice.

"Hmm," she smirks at him with a raised eyebrow. "Neither did I."

"What?" He asks confusedly.

"I don't have a cat Hayds."

"You don't?"

"No."

"Huh," he looks at the cat with a frown. "Then who's is it?" He asks while the cat begins to purr as he absent mindedly scratches it between the ears.

"I have a feeling that it might be the old lady's on the floor above but I'm not sure," she replies flopping down into a chair beside him.

"How'd the meet go?" he asks tilting his head up a little to look at her.

"Fine, no problems."

"Piece of cake hey?"

She rolled her eyes at him leaning back.

"Yeah, piece of cake," she smiled at him.

He smiled back patting the cat still snuggled up on his chest as a grumbling sound erupted from his stomach making the cat glare at him accusingly whilst he looked a little sheepish. A small chuckle escaped her lips as she watched him and the cat.

"I'll get you some food," she tells him as she makes her way to the kitchen, ruffling his hair as she passes.

"I don't want food poisoning!" He calls after her as he picks up the cat so he can follow.

She lets out a sarcastic laugh as she sends him a mock glare.

"I'm not that bad."

His scoff in reply earns him a raised eyebrow.

"Are you hungry or not?" She asks pointing the knife she's holding at him in a way that could almost be considered threatening.

He laughs throwing up his hands in surrender.

"Alright, alright! You win."

She smirks smugly at him as she continues chopping.

* * *

She reads a book silently beside him as he plays with the cat. It seems that they've inadvertently adopted that cat somehow and oddly it brings a smile to her face. Her brother entertains himself dangling the piece of string in front of the cat as it bats at it playfully. He lets out a chuckle as it catches the string and latches on with its teeth. It's nice just being able to spend some quiet time with someone else. That's not saying that she gets lonely, it's just that sometimes it is nice to have some company. The ringing of her phone breaks through the quiet of the room and she places her book down before picking it up to look at the caller ID. A smile forms on her lips as she sees who it is and her brother looks at her with just a hint of suspicion.

"Who is it?" He asks as she swipes her thumb across her screen to answer the call.

She rolls her eyes at him waving her hand as she gets up from her seat to head towards the balcony from her bedroom.

"Hi Phil," he hears her answer as she slips outside shutting the glass door behind her.

He tries to crane his neck to see her from the living room but it's near impossible. There are too many damn walls in his way. Unhappy with its lack of attention the cat meows at him batting playfully at his feet.

"Ok, ok," he sighs scooping up the cat to cuddle it to his chest.

"Do you know who Phil is?" He asks the furry animal holding it up to face him.

Letting out a purr the cat rubs its face against his cheeks happily.

"Well you're no help," he tells the cat looking at it with a frown. "Why haven't I ever heard of a Phil before?" He asks aloud scratching between the cats ears distractedly. It's only response is a deep rumbling purr to which he shakes his head at affectionately.

He sits there mulling over the potential relations between his sister and this Phil, as they talk for over twenty minutes on the phone. The guy must be a real talker he thinks because his sister certainly isn't one to talk for prolonged periods of time, let alone over the phone. Either that or this guy means something to her. He'd like to think that she would have told him though if she had a boyfriend, that Andrew guy hadn't been too bad.

It's been almost forty minutes by the time she comes back in and she doesn't say a word at all about the phone call. They sit in silence together for half an hour before he breaks.

"So… Who's Phil?" He finally asks after being unable to keep his questioning in much longer.

She glances at her phone before smirking at him.

"Wow, a whole thirty three minutes," she teases him. "You've gotten better at taming your impulsiveness, though it seems it isn't completely gone."

He rolls his eyes at her but isn't about to let her try to distract him from the topic. She always beats him when it comes to the waiting game so it's nothing new.

"Is he your boyfriend?" He asks with a raised eyebrow.

An eye roll and a quirked eyebrow is her response as she lets out a sigh.

"What are you? Twelve?" She teases, mocking him on his choice of words.

He huffs at her determined to get some answers.

"So you're in a relationship then?"

The sighs she lets out sounds almost like defeat but he knows her too well to even think that she would let something get the better of her.

"It's not quite like that," she says quietly, all playfulness replaced with a sudden seriousness.

He tilts his head at her signalling for her to elaborate.

"He was my partner," she admits and it feels like his eyebrows have shot up into his hairline. Now that is an interesting piece of information. "After my holiday off I left him and SHIELD to have my own life. It's not like he really needed me anyway, he's got a whole team now."

She shrugged nonchalantly running a hand through her hair as he watched her carefully.

"But that's not the only reason you left," he pointed out reading her like a book. He knew her better than anyone else, well he liked to think so. Regardless of how good they were at their jobs, it was always nigh impossible for them to keep something from each other. They were the confidants for one another growing up, something that they still managed to keep even though they don't see each other as often as they'd like to. He is and always will be her brother, one of the rare people in the world who she trusts implicitly. She would quite happily put her life in his hands.

"What happened between you and him?" He asks leaning forwards from the couch. She's quiet for a moment, lips pursed as she thinks about her next words carefully.

"I think I developed feelings for him," she says admitting the truth to herself for the first time. "And I ran."

There is understanding in his eyes as he nods his head. Neither of them had really been that lucky in love. She's divorced and he's never really had a proper serious relationship that's lasted more than three months. Her emotions are concealed behind a carefully crafted mask, but it's almost pointless when she's with him. He can see the fear in her eyes, the longing and the pain of guilt and regret. After all she's been through he doesn't blame her for running, if it had been him in her position he probably would have done the same. There are only so many batterings of heartbreak the heart can take before it gives up.

"He calls me once every fortnight," she says with a small quirk of her lips and a shake of her head. Smiling slightly at her, he reaches across to take her hand in his.

"Don't give up yet," he says quietly as she looks at him with a scared expression in her eyes that he has so rarely seen.

Clearly if the guy still bothers to call her she must mean something to him too. He clearly means a lot to her, and he'd hate to see her miss out on something that could have been amazing because she was too worried of losing the guy that she cares about. Life's too short not to take the chance.

* * *

 **A/N**

 **I was worried I wasn't going to get this one up in time for my schedule but HOORAY! I made it. Please be kind enough to leave a comment. I put a lot of work and effort into my stories and it would be lovely to hear from you guys.**


	6. New Company

**Author's Note:**

 **Wow it's been so long since I've updated this and I feel slightly guilty about that. I've just been so busy and tired it's been a bit hard to write, but I was inspired so out came this chapter. Anyway, enjoy :)**

* * *

Her apartment feels oddly empty as she shuts the door behind her. Placing her bag on the floor beside the door she flicks on the lights letting out a sigh. It's quiet. Her brother left a couple of weeks ago for another job and she's surprised a little at how much she's felt his absence. Coming home after a long flight she misses the small comfort that his presence brought. It almost feels like loneliness, which is strange since she very much likes being in solitude. Maybe she's just gotten too used to having constant company. Regardless, it does make her apartment feel a little too empty. Picking her bag back up she heads over to her bedroom, she needs a shower and sleep. Placing her bag down beside her drawers she pulls out a clean change of clothes and underwear before entering the bathroom. Turning on the tap she frowns as the water runs but doesn't heat up. She waits a couple of moments more, turning the taps off and on again but to no avail. Great, just what she needed after a long day's work! Making sure that the taps are securely off she walks over to her neighbour's apartment knocking on the door.

"Hi," he greets as he opens the door wearing a pair of track pants and a t-shirt.

His eyebrows rise just slightly as he takes in her captain's uniform which she hasn't bothered to change out of.

"Hi," she replies flashing him a small smile. "Sorry to bother you, but I was wondering if your hot water is working at the moment or if it's just me?"

A slight frown crosses his features as he appears surprised at her query.

"I think it's working," he answered turning around to enter his apartment to check, gesturing for her to follow. "Seems all good," he shrugged as he tested all the taps in the apartment, hot water flowing from them freely.

"Great," she muttered under her breath as she lingered a few steps behind him. "I suppose I'll have to get it all sorted tomorrow, if I'm lucky."

He looked at her with a sympathetic smile as he dried his hands on a hand towel.

"Thanks for that," she smiled at him as she started making her way out of his apartment.

"Hey, wait!" He called after her causing her to pause for just a moment.

"If you want, you're quite welcome to use my bathroom or whatever if you need."

She stared at him for a moment as if trying to assess his intentions.

"No catch," he said with a smile, dark eyes twinkling as if he knew what she was thinking.

Rolling her eyes at him she smiled.

"Thanks, it's been a long day."

"I'll leave the door unlocked so you can go get your stuff or whatever," he gestures to the door.

Nodding at him she gave him an appreciative look as she walked back over to her apartment to grab a few things. When she walks back over he gives her a simple nod as she disappears into the bathroom. Usually she wouldn't just traipse into a stranger's apartment but she is honestly too exhausted to deal with having a freezing shower tonight. The hot water feels amazing on her skin and she's grateful that her neighbour was nice enough to let her use his shower. When she exits, hair still damp against the back of her shirt he offers her a drink and to stay for a chat. Considering the fact that he was generous enough to allow her to use his shower she accepts his offer with a smile as he passes her a beer from the fridge.

"So, long flight?" He asks her as he leads them over to the lounge.

"You could say that," she answers ambiguously with a slight tilt of her head.

A small smile forms on his lips at her slightly evasive answer as they both take a seat on the couch.

"I feel kinda bad living across the hall from you and knowing hardly anything about you," he admits with a curious look on his face, "it seems snobbish and very unneighbourly."

He runs a hand through his short brown hair spiking it up a little as he takes a drink from his beer. She releases an amused chuckle at his statement and he flushes just the slightest bit.

"There's not much to know really," she shrugs with a small smirk on her lips as she takes a sip of her own beer.

He raises his eyebrows in response to her answer, tilting his head to the side.

"Now that I find hard to believe," he states earning himself a raised eyebrow and another smirk.

"I hardly know anything about you," she counters causing him to pause with a thoughtful expression on his face.

"I grew up in Seattle, have two sisters, my father's a cardiologist and my mother's an anaesthetist."

"I see the medical field runs in the family," she states to which he grins a little.

"Yeah, I never really saw myself in any other field," he shares with a shrug.

"I got my pilot's license when I was twenty," she reveals after a bit of thought.

A look of surprise crosses his features at the small bit of information.

"So young," he says to which she just smiles a little.

"I wanted to fly," she swipes her thumb over the rim of her beer bottle feeling maybe just a twinge of self consciousness at sharing so much about herself with essentially a stranger. "So what about you, what made you want to become a surgeon?"

"Well I grew up with parents in the medical field," he thinks, "I guess it was just what I was always going to be. Knowing what my parents did and how they helped people, I just couldn't really think of doing anything else."

A small smile forms on her lips and his story causes her to feel a little nostalgic about her own family. His desire to be in the same field as his parents feels oddly similar to she and her brother being in like fields to their mother. They may not be in the medical field and she may not be a spy anymore, but she understands how parents can influence your decisions as a child.

"What about your sisters?" She asks genuinely curious.

He smiles just thinking about his family and it makes her wonder for a moment what it might be like to have a regular family not filled with classified secrets.

"Well my older sister is a stay at home mum, and my younger sister works for the NYPD."

She raises her eyebrows at that impressed just a little.

"NYPD," she repeats noting the proud grin that forms on his face at the mention of it.

"Tahlia, my sister, she wanted to help people in a different way to my parents and I. She wanted to be out there in the field protecting people and putting the bad guys away. She worked so hard to get where she is now and we're all really proud of her."

"I can imagine," she tilts her head in agreement.

They talk for a while, and she starts on a second bottle of beer which he hands her as they both finish their first. It's been awhile since she talked to someone new without worry of betrayal or ulterior motives. It's refreshing and nice and she surprises herself by how easy she finds it to talk to him. He doesn't push or press her for details about herself for which she is grateful, and he's quite happy to talk about anything and nothing. The feeling of enjoyment inside her almost shocks her for a moment as she suddenly recognises it. For too long she's not let herself have something purely for enjoyment because there were always sacrifices and compromises to be made. It's nice though, not having any pressure on her and being able to do exactly as she likes. When her second bottle of beer runs dry she decides that it's time to turn in for the night though.

"Thank you again for letting me use your shower," she tells him as he walks her over to her apartment even though it is a total of seven steps away from his across the hall.

"Not a problem at all," he smiles sticking his hands into the pockets of his jeans as she opens her door.

"You didn't have to walk me across you know," she smirks at him with an amused expression.

"What can I say?" He shrugs leaning back a little. "I'm a little old fashioned."

She smiles at that and for some reason he reminds her of Phil in that moment. It just seems like something he would say. She raises her eyebrows at him though and the slightest shade of pink spreads across his cheeks.

"Anyway," he tells her as she leans against the doorframe opposite him watching him with curious dark eyes. "I thought maybe if you'd like I could take you out to dinner sometime? Someplace nice."

There's a hopeful look in his eye and if she's being completely honest she actually quite enjoyed his company tonight. Getting to know someone new might not be so bad, and it's been months now since she and Andrew went their separate ways.

"Ok," she nods at him with a small smile on her lips.

"Ok," he repeats and she can almost hear the relief in his voice at her answer. "So I'll pick you up Thursday at seven?"

It's Monday so that's two days from now and she's got a couple of days off until she has work again.

"Sounds good," she tells him straightening up from leaning against the doorframe.

"Great," he smiles again and she finds it really sweet how happy he is. "I'll see you then," he waves his hand and she nods back at him with a small smile before shutting the door.

So... she has a date. It's been so long since she last went on a date she's not even really sure if she remembers what she's actually supposedly to do. Crap. Her heart rate is a little elevated though and she does find Alex attractive so maybe this could be good. He's fit and charismatic, interesting and intelligent. It's not like she is exactly looking for a relationship but she's not averse to the idea. Quite the opposite actually, now that her entire lifestyle has changed she thinks that maybe it might just be possible for her to gain some sort of a normal life. Spread her wings and stop running, maybe even face her fears and stop letting the past dictate her future, which she can start by going out on a date. It might even help her to sort out her mixed up feelings with her former partner too. First things first though, she's going to need to call the girls to help her out a little.

* * *

"You what?!" Maria exclaims, her face the epitome of shock as she stares at her through the computer screen.

"Give us the details," Natasha demands as she moves closer to her computer.

Melinda rolls her eyes at the both of them thinking their reactions are just a little over the top.

"He asked me out last night," she shrugs playing it casual.

"How?!" Maria asks narrowing her eyes just a little at her friends nonchalant attitude.

"I was in his apartment and we had a drink and talked for a bit. He then walked me back over to my apartment after and then asked me out for dinner."

"You were in his apartment?" Natasha looks at her slyly, a devilish glint in her eye.

"My hot water wasn't working so he let me use his shower," she explains to her friends.

Both Maria and Natasha raise their eyebrows at her and in that moment she really regrets video calling them at all.

"He didn't happen to join you in the-"

"Nat!" She cries cutting off her friend before she can finish her sentence.

"Just asking," the redhead raises an eyebrow giving her a look of false innocence.

"Are you two going to help me or should I hang up?" She looks at them both with a moderate level glare.

"Fine, fine!" They both relent.

"But you owe us a very detailed recount of this whole story AND the date!" Maria counters using her commander voice.

"Fine, deal," she rolls her eyes at them before stepping back to open up her wardrobe. "Now help me pick something."

"You need to go shopping," Natasha tells her as they go through her limited wardrobe.

"Yeah, you don't have any girl clothes," Maria adds as if it wasn't abundantly clear before.

"Well I didn't really have many occasions for wearing them," she shrugs not really having much need for skirts and dresses before.

Living as a spy constantly in the field and hardly ever at home, she didn't really wear skirts and dresses unless it was for undercover missions.

"Geez Mel," Natasha shakes her head at her. "Even you need to stay in touch with your feminine side."

She raises her eyebrows at that comment not quite sure what to make of that comment.

"Even me?" She asks obviously a little befuddled.

"Well you know…" Natasha trails not quite sure how to put it. "You and your whole 'can't touch this', 'woman of steel' attitude."

Her hands wave in the air as she speaks and Melinda can't keep in her laughter.

"You been listening to MC Hammer again widow?" She laughs clearly amused at her friend's choice of description.

Even Maria is laughing and eventually they all just end up laughing.

"Ok, in all fairness the spider has a point," Maria agrees once they all finally sober up.

"Fine," Melinda huffs, "I'll go shopping tomorrow."

"Great, I'll pick you up at ten tomorrow," Maria states matter of factly before disconnecting her feed from the video call.

"Thanks, now I have to go shopping with Maria," Melinda glares at Natasha through the screen of her computer as the redhead grins at her triumphantly.

"Don't worry," her friend reassures her brightly. "I'll come by to control the control freak."

"Thanks," she answers dryly.

Natasha winks at her with a smirk before disconnecting the call too.

"Great!" Melinda sighs to herself as she closes her laptop before flopping down on her bed.

At the sound of a meow she turns her head to see her unofficially adopted cat staring at her from the floor. Raising an eyebrow at the creature she watches as it walks over to her before rubbing it's head against her hand which is dangling off the bed. Smiling a little she runs her hand over its head feeling it's silky fur beneath her fingers. It struts along beside her bed before pausing to jump up next to her. Walking up and down the bed it finally settles down alongside her after much deliberation and kneading of the bedspread. Curled up into her side it releases a low purr and she smiles down at the cat. Well at least she's not totally alone in her apartment.

* * *

 **A/N**

 **So what did you guys think? Any reactions so far? Please let me know, I'm dying to hear from you and your comments really help to inspire me to write. It takes a lot of time and energy and brain power to write all these stories so it would be lovely to see what you guys are making of this ;)**


	7. It's a date

**Author's Note: ****So I kinda struggled to write the date and I've been really busy with school and so many different stories on the go at once so I'm really sorry for the long time between updates. Thank you if you have stuck around with me long enough for this update, it means a lot to me. I hope it's worth the wait :)**

* * *

"No," she says flatly eyeing the dress Natasha is holding up with disdain.

"Really? It's totally your colour," Natasha laughs as she puts the bright pink dress back on its rack.

Melinda rolls her eyes preferring not to dignify the joke with a response as she continues to sort through the rack of dresses which she is currently looking through.

"Here, go and try these," Maria tells her as she dumps a couple of dresses in her arms suddenly and pushes her towards the change rooms.

"What I-"

"Just try them on ok Mel," Maria cuts her off with a stern look.

"Fine," she huffs before reluctantly picking out one of the free change rooms.

"I don't like it," is the first thing out of her mouth as she draws the curtain back revealing the first dress.

Both of her friends evaluate her critically as she avoids fidgeting with her hands.

"Agreed," Natasha says nodding her head, "too much black. Try some colour."

She's about to argue that she rather likes wearing the colour black before Maria opens her mouth.

"Yeah, more colour. You always wear black."

Rolling her eyes she draws the curtain back across, placing all the black dresses to one side before trying on the coloured ones.

"No," Natasha says right away as she reveals the dress. It's salmon pink with a low neckline and sits just off her shoulders.

"Yeah, not my colour," she grimaces looking down at the flesh coloured garment.

It makes her look washed out and is just all sorts of wrong. Pulling the curtain back across she tries on the next one.

"That's not too bad," Maria says thoughtfully as she looks her up and down.

"If I was going for a sixties housewife look," she deadpans with hands on hips.

Natasha snorts before shooing her off to try on the next one.

"Now that could be considered acceptable," Natasha nods as she carefully turns around for them.

"Uh, if we were going to work at a strip club maybe," she replies back snarkily.

The dress is short, incredibly so. It barely makes it to mid thigh and the plunging v-neckline is so deep she's pretty sure any lower and her navel would be on display. Turning back into the change room she ignores the cat calls of her friends as they have a bit of fun at her expense.

"No!" both her friends cry as she pulls back the curtain.

"I don't even know why you put this in the pile," she looks at Maria.

The dress is probably the worst one of the lot, it's strapless and orange and just so very horrible. It provides no shape to her figure, is an awkward length between her knees and her ankles and is generally just a terrible colour on her. Securing the curtain back across, she pulls off the ugly dress with pleasure.

Their eyes light up as she steps out and does the compulsory turn for them to see all aspects of the dress.

"It's perfect" both her friends decide as she smooths down the front of the dress with her hands.

The deep wine red colour of the dress suits her perfectly and it hugs her figure in all the right ways. Coming down to reach mid thigh, there is a slit along her left thigh to allow her easier movement, something which she appreciates greatly. The v-neckline is modest without being excessively so and shows off just the right amount of skin. The slim rope braided straps over her shoulders hold it up, with the braided straps elegantly separating over her shoulders into their individual strands to hold up the low back of her dress, two meeting in a v at the middle and the other two going straight down. The dress appears almost to be like a wrap dress in the way the fabric crosses over itself and folds. The girls are right, it is perfect.

"Great, so we're done?" she asks hoping that they can finish shopping.

"What? No!" Maria says crushing her hopes of an early reprieve. "We aren't finished until you have at least five new dresses."

"Five!" she says, horrified by the idea of having to go through this process for longer.

"Yes five," her friend agrees as Natasha snickers beside her.

"Traitor," she glares at Nat.

"Go on," Maria tells her pushing her back into the changing room, "we need to pick at least four more dresses."

* * *

Three hours, a few dozen stores and entirely too many dresses later, she is finally free. All collapsing onto her lounge they take a minute before she hauls herself back up to go and sort through her new clothes. The sound of footsteps behind her tells her that the girls have followed her as well.

"So which one are you going to wear tomorrow night?" Natasha asks her as she begins taking her new dresses out of their bags, her friend sprawled across her bed.

"Hmm," she mulls over the question still a little undecided. "Which one do you guys think?"

"The first red one," Maria says without pause, pushing Natasha over a bit so she could lie on the bed too.

"This one?" She asks holding up said dress.

"Yep," Maria confirms resting her chin on top of her hands as she lies on her stomach.

Natasha turns her head to look as well and gives an awkwardly angled nod of approval as well from her position starfished on her back.

"Alright, this one it is," she agrees as she hangs it up on a coat hanger, ready for tomorrow.

"Pair it with those nice black pumps that you have too," Nat tells her flopping her hand up to gesture towards Melinda's wardrobe.

Smiling to herself Melinda walks over to her wardrobe and bends down to pick up the aforementioned shoes.

"These?" She teases her friend dangling them just above her face.

"Hey!" The redhead swats the shoes away from her face, "yes, those shoes."

Chuckling to herself she takes the shoes away from her friend's face and puts them aside with her dress for tomorrow night as well.

"What about your hair?" Maria pipes up to which Natasha nods along vigorously to.

"Just thought I'd leave it down and curled," she shrugs not having really given it much thought.

"Yeah you could do that," Maria says though she doesn't sound entirely convinced, "or you could put it up and show of the low back on that dress."

"It'll drive him wild," Natasha smirks wiggling her eyebrows at her.

She throws Natasha a look as Maria shrugs her shoulders.

"Just consider it," her friend tells her.

* * *

At exactly seven o'clock she hears a soft rap of knuckles on her door. Swiping her purse from the kitchen counter on her way, she opens the door with a soft smile.

"Hi," he smiles at her, stepping back from the door as she steps out.

"Hi," she replies shutting the door behind her and locking it.

"You look stunning," he tells her running his eyes appreciatively over her figure, enjoying the low back of her dress on display with her hair pinned up.

"You clean up pretty nice yourself," she smirks returning the compliment.

He's dressed smartly in black slacks with a white shirt, the first few buttons undone allowing a small expanse of skin to peek out, and a matching black jacket. Her compliment causes him to grin and he offers her his arm as they walk towards the elevator. Her hand rests lightly on his forearm as they walk making idle chatter. Usually she isn't one for small talk but she quite enjoys getting to know Alex better. And that is what tonight is about; getting to know one another better. There are no expectations, no pressures. If things don't work out then she will not be disappointed and they can just go back to being friendly neighbours.

* * *

"I thought we were going to dinner?" She looks at him with a raised eyebrow.

He smiles a little sheepishly shrugging his shoulders, "I guess I just wanted to impress you."

For some reason his admittance makes her cheeks flush a light pink and she tries to hide the smile tugging at her lips. With her hand on his forearm she allows him to lead her to their seats. After several minutes in which they converse quietly the lights around them begin to dim gradually fading into darkness and she can't help her small intake of breath as the domed ceiling above her is illuminated with constellations.

"Consider me impressed," she whispers in his ear lowly as they are taken on a virtual journey through space.

Stars and planets fly past them, meteors and asteroid belts, black holes and entire galaxies. It truly is a sight to behold.

Sitting beside her shrouded in darkness with only the lights of the constellations surrounding them illuminating her face, he's glad that he decided to bring her here tonight.

When they walk out of the planetarium around an hour later she feels almost overwhelmed from all of the sights of space. Alex smiles at her, dark eyes warm as they walk back to his car. It's not like she was expecting tonight to go poorly, but already it's outdoing her standards for first dates. The restaurant he takes her to is a classy French establishment with a lovely peaceful ambience. They order wine with their meals and share their desserts. She even indulges him in allowing him to feed her some of his chocolate mousse, teasing him just a little as she swipes her tongue along her bottom lip to to lick up the chocolate, his eyes falling to her lips at the action. A short chuckle escapes her breaking through the slight tension rising up between them and he releases a low chuckle of his own as he leans back running a hand through his hair.

The conversation between them flows easily as they talk about a wide range of topics from preferred alcoholic beverages to favourite Avengers. He's a Captain America fan and she finds herself smiling as his enthusiasm for the patriotic hero reminds her of a particular former partner. When she mentions collecting trading cards he laughs off her teasing suggestion with a reassurance that he is only a moderate fan, no costumes and trading cards for him. At her reveal of Black Widow being her favoured Avenger she receives an expression of raised eyebrows and a playful comment that she could probably pull off a good Black Widow. She smirks back with a cryptic look. If only he knew the half of it. Also, she is totally not telling Nat that she just said she was her favourite Avenger because then her friend will be completely insufferable. Natasha does not need her ego inflated anymore than it is.

As he walks her to her apartment door she cannot help the slight flutter of butterflies in her stomach. They both know what comes next.

"Thank you for tonight," she tells him sincerely, a small smile on her lips as he smiles back at her.

"It was my pleasure," he replies taking a tentative step forward, closer to her.

Close enough that she can feel the warmth of his body radiating off him. His dark eyes lock on hers, their gaze intense as she waits for him. Tilting her head up in invitation, he leans forward, one hand cupping her cheek gently as the other holds her waist lightly, his lips brushing over hers in the barest of touches. When she doesn't back away, he presses his lips more firmly to hers, warm and wet and tasting faintly of chocolate. His hand on her waist tightens fractionally as his other hand brushes a thumb over her cheek, tongue swiping over her bottom lip just as she'd teased him in the restaurant earlier. When they part he watches as she smiles up at him through dark lashes, cheeks tinted a most delightful pink.

"I'd like to do this again sometime," he shares unable to resist brushing his thumb over her cheek just once more.

"The kissing or the date?" She asks with a playful tone and smirk drawing a chuckle out of him.

"Both," he admits unable to stop looking at her.

She bites her bottom lip and he can't help thoughts of soothing it better from popping into his mind.

"Ok," she says simply with a small smile after a few seconds of deliberation. He cannot help the wide smile that splits his face as he bids her goodnight and she turns from him with quiet good night of her own, closing the door being her as she enters her apartment. His lips still tingle from her kiss as he walks the seven steps over to his own apartment and he cannot wait for when he will see her again.

* * *

She's not surprised by the two intruders in her home as she shuts the door behind her, placing her purse on the counter and releasing a sigh.

"I suppose you want a mission report?" She turns to them resignedly.

"All the details," Maria orders as she accepts the drinks Melinda passes them.

" _All_ the details," Natasha reaffirms as if Maria's statement wasn't clear enough.

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Please leave me a review? I haven't been getting many so I'd love to know what you guys think of this.**


	8. Debrief

**Author's Note:** **I know I haven't updated in ages which I feel badly about, but inspiration was low. Anyway, here is the first chapter for the year so I hope you all enjoy :)**

* * *

Not even ten minutes home and already she is being assaulted with interrogation questions by her two somewhat, scratch that, totally annoying friends.

"So, where did he take you?" Maria asks taking a sip of her drink.

"The planetarium," Melinda replies as she slips off her heels and starts pulling the pins out of her hair, releasing it from the fancy updo it had been in all night.

"Ooh, Mr fancypants," Nat smirks as Melinda rolls her eyes.

"It was nice," she says running a hand through the messy waves of her hair.

"Are you going to see him again?" Maria looks at her seriously.

She raises her eyebrow at her friend, "maybe… he did say he'd like to go out again sometime."

"And is that what you want?" Nat asks with a tilt of her head.

She frowns at both of her friends as she leans back against the kitchen counter, "why do you guys sound like my mother all of a sudden?"

They both give her a hard look, they know she's deflecting and they're not taking it. Even though they all enjoy giving each other a hard time, underneath all the banter they do really care about one another. She lets out a sigh as she answers, "it would be nice, but I'm not pinning any hopes on anything yet."

Both of her friends nod as if satisfied with the answer. There are a couple of moments of tense silence before Natasha breaks it with a sly smirk.

"So tells us about why you were using the hot neighbours shower."

She barely suppresses the roll of her eyes which is her automatic response but she knew this question would be coming anyway. She's just about to reply when there is a sharp rap on her door.

"Hmm… saved by the bell," she grins as she gets up to go answer the door.

Opening the door she doesn't even attempt to hide her surprise at the person on the other side.

"What are you doing back so soon?" she asks cocking her head to the side.

Both Nat and Maria lean back in their seats at the counter to try and catch a glimpse of Melinda's surprise visitor.

"Yeah, missed you too sis," Hayden grins at her teasingly as he wraps his arms around her enveloping her small form in his larger one.

She rolls her eyes at his antics but hugs him back none the less before stepping aside and shutting the door behind him as he enters her apartment. He pauses for a moment and she almost steps into him as he turns his head towards her with a questioning look.

"You didn't tell me you had company," he tells her in what might seem like a curious tone but she knows what he is really asking.

"Hayden," she pats him on the shoulder so he knows the two women currently sitting at her breakfast bar are not a threat, "that's Maria and Natasha," she tilts her head towards each of them in turn. "Girls, this is my brother Hayden."

Both women look at her with unmasked surprise before calling a greeting to her brother as he waves hello to them as he drops his bag next to the lounge before moving over to the kitchen where he helps himself to a drink from the fridge.

"That's your brother," Nat hisses as she pulls her over, "how did we not know this before?"

"I knew she had a brother," Maria pipes up to which Nat throws her a dirty look.

"You knew and you didn't tell me!" She looks at both Melinda and Maria with disbelief.

"It was classified," Maria shrugs earning herself a punch on the shoulder from the redhead.

"Why didn't you tell us though?" Natasha looks at Melinda ignoring the fact that Maria already had prior knowledge of their friend's secret sibling.

Melinda shrugs as if it isn't a big deal, watching as her brother twists the cap off a beer and hunts through her pantry for a snack.

"Some of the stuff he does isn't exactly above board," she admits to which Natasha snorts.

"Come on Mel, before I joined SHIELD I wasn't above board either. I can't believe you kept your hot brother a secret from us!"

Melinda barely suppresses her grimace at her friend's comment.

"Uh, first of all can you never say that again, and second, I didn't really think it would be such a big deal," she flicks her eyes over to where her brother is buttering a piece of bread.

"It's nice to be able to finally put a face to a name," Maria smirks causing Natasha to poke her tongue out at her.

Shaking her head at her friends, Melinda walks over to her brother who is munching on a sandwich.

"So are you just passing through or are you staying over?" She asks as he swallows his bite.

"I've got a few things to do in town but I was hoping I could stay over for a bit, spend some time with you," he answers.

She smiles at that.

"Why the fancy dress?" he asks tilting his head.

"She had a date," Nat pipes up drawing his attention.

He turns back to face her with a curious look.

"With the cute neighbour next door-" Maria adds at the same time he asks her, "so how's Phil?"

The room descends into an awkward silence, everyone not quite sure of what else to say.

"Well this is awkward," Natasha finally says breaking the silence.

"Agreed," her brother grimaces before taking another bite of his sandwich to stop himself from saying anything else that might make things even more awkward than they already are.

"I'm going to go get some blankets to set up the lounge for you tonight," Melinda pats his shoulder before leaving the room in search of blankets.

"So what's your business in town?" Maria asks Hayden in an attempt to try and start up conversation.

"Just keeping an eye on a target," he shrugs casually, careful not to give much away.

"Forget shop talk," Nat slaps Maria on the arm, "tell us all the embarrassing childhood stories of Melinda," she smiles at him with her trademark Black Widow seduction face.

Hayden glances towards the doorway as if worried his sister will return and kick his ass for daring to even think of sharing embarrassing stories of her.

"Ok," he starts carefully, making sure to pick a story that he knows won't land him in too much hot water. "When we were kids, I think Mellie was about eight… She'd really just started her pranking career but mum already had a pretty short fuse when it came to her pranks. Melinda of course thought rules were meant to be broken so that didn't stop her pranks," he pauses as her two friends laugh knowing exactly what their friend used to be like during her earlier days at SHIELD when she and Barton broke many rules together with their pranks.

"Anyway," he continues, "I think Mellie found some of dad's duct tape and thought it would be a wonderful idea to mess with mum's kitchen tap to create a water fountain. I'm sure you can imagine how well that would go down with our mother," he raises his eyebrows at both women with a look that indicates that his sister's prank was definitely not received well."So of course I was the designated distraction whilst Mellie duct taped the tap and when our mother went into the kitchen to prepare dinner… well Mellie certainly didn't hear the end of that one for a while."

Both women laugh enjoying the antics of their friend when she was a child.

"Good to know the pranking started from an early age," Maria smiles with a thoughtful expression.

Natasha nods in agreement before turning her attention back to Hayden, "so that makes you her original partner in crime then?" She raises an eyebrow at him.

He lets out a laugh which he cuts short as his sister re-enters the room with sheets and blankets.

"Yeah I guess you could say that," he grins earning himself a suspicious look from Melinda across the room.

"I hope you're not spreading false tales," she calls out to him with a mock death glare.

His grin only grows at her words as he sends her a cheeky look, "only the good stories."

She rolls her eyes as she finishes tucking in the last of the blankets. Of course leaving her crazy brother with her two even crazier friends was basically just asking for embarrassing stories to be spilled, but she can't really say that she's all that bothered by it. More than anything she's just happy that her brother stopped by to visit. It's also a sweet image to see him getting on so well with her friends, something that could also have negative repercussions for her. She can see it already. The three of them wreaking absolute havoc together and probably ganging up on her. What a nightmare! Best she intervenes now before they even get the chance to get out of hand.

"So who's this man that took my sister out on a date?" Her brother turns to her as she approaches them in the kitchen.

"Alex, the cute neighbour across the hall," Natasha answers as Melinda opens her mouth to speak.

She throws her friend a look as she steps around the kitchen counter to pat her brother on the shoulder.

"It's just one date," she tells him.

He gives her a look and she knows exactly what he is thinking. "I already did a background check on him," she shares.

Hayden doesn't say anything but she knows he's still going to be running his own checks, which if she's honestly speaking is sort of sweet. Even though he'll always be her little brother to her and she's more than capable of looking out for herself, it's nice that he is protective of her.

They spend the rest of the night drinking and talking until Maria and Natasha head off in the early hours of the morning. Her brother crashes on the couch and she falls asleep in her bed with the cat curled up beside her; as she dreams of constellations and planets.

* * *

It's three days into his stay when he finally cracks.

"Mel…" he interrupts her from the book she is currently reading.

She looks up at him without a word as she waits for him to spit out the question she knows he has been waiting three days to ask.

"So this job I've got… turns out the target is incredibly untrusting and has high security around him at all times but…" he trails off awkwardly whilst she sits there silently waiting for him to finish.

"Uh… so he doesn't really trust men but he does have a weakness which is that he's incredibly vain and can be easily won over by attractive women… so-I-was-hoping-maybe-you-could-come-along-to-distract-him-for-me?" He finishes the last half in a rush, eager to get the words out but his nervousness making him almost unintelligible.

His sister sits very still for several moments as she takes the time to process his very jumbled words.

"So you want me to play eye candy?" She looks at him with the slightest hint of a smirk pulling at her lips.

Unable to deny her words he shrugs a little helplessly. After making him suffer through several more tense moments of awkwardness she finally puts him out of his misery with a short nod of her head and a casual 'ok'. The barely masked surprise on his face is worth it as she stuns him with her agreeable response. Plus she's also going to be working a mission for the first time in almost a year and she would be lying is she said she wasn't the least bit excited at the prospect of it, even if it is undercover. At least she also gets to work on a mission with her brother. It's strange to think that even though they've both worked in the field for over a decade they've never actually worked in a mission together. Occasionally they've helped each other out with intel and even crossed paths on missions a couple of times, but never have they actually worked together out in the field on the same mission. It's both strange and exciting to think that after all these years they will be finally teaming up; something that could mean a perfectly executed mission or an utter disaster. She's still withholding judgment.

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 **A/N**

 **Good? Bad? Meh? I'm dying for some feedback here. Next chapter will hopefully be some fun ;P**


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